1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bird launcher for training hunting dogs.
2. Description of Related Art
Hunting is actively pursued by millions of Americans every year. Recent government data shows that more than 14 million people actively hunt a variety of game animals and spend more than 20 billion dollars. There are over three million migratory bird (duck, geese, dove, quail) hunters who collectively spend approximately 1.3 billion dollars on equipment, ammunition, decoys, and other hunting-related expenses. Part of the hunting-related expenses include more than 120 million dollars that is spent for hunting dogs and associated expenses.
Migratory bird hunters are often assigned a daily quota. The quota is designed, in part, to ensure a species is not over hunted, thus helping to maintain future populations. A hunter, therefore, is interested in retrieving all downed birds. Consequently, many migratory bird hunters use dogs to retrieve downed birds on both land and water. Before dogs can be used to retrieve the bird, they must be trained to locate and return the bird when so commanded. The dog must be conditioned to ignore the explosive report of the muzzle blast and to wait for the hunter's command to retrieve the game. The large caliber shotguns normally used in hunting waterfowl have loud muzzle blasts which would, without training, distract the dog. The dog could be trained during actual hunting but this creates a potentially dangerous environment for the dog when other hunters are in the area. The safest way to train the dog is through simulated hunting wherein a device is used to launch birds in a manner that simulates a bird flushed from the ground. The hunter then shoots the bird and commands the dog to retrieve the bird. This method conditions the dog to the muzzle blast and trains the dog to retrieve the bird. Additionally, the hunter is able to practice his/her hunting skills on live game thus enhancing the hunt training. Conventional training is, however, problematic in that the bird's launch speed is substantially lower than the speed of the bird flushed in the wild. In this respect, the hunter fails to achieve a desired level of training.
Additionally, prior art launchers are difficult to load and expose the bird to injuries such as broken legs, wings, or neck when the hunter is trying to load the bird single-handed.
FIGS. 1 through 2e illustrate a prior art bird launcher for hunt training. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the prior art bird launcher. As shown in FIG. 1, a bird launcher 10 includes a housing 11, a controller 12, an operation assembly 13, and a discharging assembly 14. Housing 11 has a generally square box-type of a body 111 opened at its top with support bars 112 extended widthwise from the upper corners of the sidewalls of the body 111. Controller 12 mounted at one side of the housing 11 receives signals transmitted from a remote controller (not shown). Operation assembly 13 includes a moving shaft 131, an operating rod 132, an auxiliary locking member 133, and an electromagnet 135. Moving shaft 131 is pulled by a magnetic force generated by electromagnet 135 in response to the signal received by controller 12. Operating rod 132, connected to one end of moving shaft 131, rotates by a predetermined angle when pulled by moving shaft 131.
Discharging assembly 14 includes a fixing rod 141, a pair of springs 142, a pair of guide rods 143, and a guide belt 144. Each guide rod of the pair of guide rods 143, inserted into apertures formed into ends of support bars 112, rotate toward the outside of housing 11 by the restoring force of the pair of springs 142 when fixing rod 141 is released from the locked state by the rotation of operating rod 132. Guide belt 144, attached at opposite side ends of the pair of guide rods 143, is discharged vertically as the pair of guide rods 143 are rotated toward the outside of housing 11.
As shown in the prior art of FIG. 2a, a bird, such as a pigeon, is placed on guide belt 144 while the pair of guide rods 143 of discharging assembly 14 are rotated toward the inside of housing 11 around the end portions of support bars 112 to thereby form a space in the interior of housing 11. As the pair of guide rods 143 are rotated towards the inside of housing 11, the pair of springs 142 start to obtain their restoring force, and the pair of guide rods 143 come in close contact with fixing rod 141. The bird is positioned on guide belt 144 as the pair of guide rods 143 rotate towards the inside of housing 11 creating the space in the interior of housing 11. The pair of guide rods 143 come in close contact with the top surface of housing 11 such that guide belt 144 surrounding the bird is located in the interior of housing 11, as can be seen in FIG. 2b. 
Referring now to FIG. 2c, after the pair of guide rods 143 are rotated in close contact with housing 11, fixing rod 141 is rotated onto the end portion of one side of the pair of guide rods 143 such that the contact relationship between the pair of guide rods 143 and fixing rod 141 is maintained. Operating rod 132 is rotated by a predetermined angle to place fixing rod 141 in a locked state. So as to prevent accidental movement of operating rod 132, auxiliary locking member 133 is inserted through an aperture in operating rod 132 and through an aperture in one side of housing 11. The bird launcher 10 is locked and ready for launching.
When the bird launcher 10 is placed at the training site, auxiliary locking member 133 is removed from operating rod 132 and housing 11.
Referring now to FIG. 2d, a signal is transmitted by a remote controller (not shown) to the bird launcher 10. At that time, controller 12 receives the transmitted signal and generates a control signal in response to the received signal. Electromagnet 135 generates the magnetic force that pulls moving shaft 131 toward controller 12. At the same time, operating rod 132 connected to moving shaft 131 rotates by the predetermined angle, as shown by 15, thereby releasing fixing rod 141 from the locked state.
As can be seen in FIG. 2e, when fixing rod 141 is released from the locked state, the pair of guide rods 143 rotate toward the outside of housing 11 by the restoring force of the pair of springs 142 and at the same time completely rotate one side of fixing rod 141 to the outside of housing 11, as illustrated by 17. The restoring force of the pair of springs 142 is such that guide belt 144, and the bird surrounded by guide belt 144, are discharged in a vertical direction by the sudden release of the restoring force of the pair of springs 142 and the sudden stretching of guide belt 144. At this moment, the bird is launched from the bird launcher.
As described above, however, the placement of the bird on guide belt 144 is problematic in that the bird must be placed on guide belt 144 and held in that position while the pair of guide rods 143 are rotated over housing 11 and placed in the locked state. It is difficult and inconvenient to simultaneously place the bird in the interior of housing 11 while rotating the plurality of guide rods 143 against the restoring force of the pair of springs 142. This can lead to injury to the bird such as broken legs, wings, or neck. There is a need, therefore, for a humane method of placing the bird in the launcher.
Another problem is that since fixing rod 141 places pressure only at the end portions of one side of the pair of guide rods 143 to maintain the restoring force of the pair of springs 142, the end portions on the other sides of the pair of guide rods 143 are not as fully depressed by fixing rod 141 and may partially open, due to the restoring force of the pair of springs 142, such that when the bird is discharged by discharging assembly 14, the bird is discharged at an angle and flies in a different direction from that intended by the hunter, making it difficult to achieve the desired hunting effect.
A method and apparatus are needed to ensure the bird is launched substantially in a vertical direction. Moreover, the process of coupling or decoupling the auxiliary locking member 133 to operating rod 132 and housing 11 may cause movement of operating rod 132, thereby causing the accidental release of the bird, exactly the function it was intended to prevent. A need exists, therefore, for a simple yet reliable method for preventing accidental release of the bird.